Had a weekend away camping in a bothy a few weeks ago, and when we got there there was a small cast-iron stove for heat, but most of the wood had been left out in the open, and was very damp - hence it was going to be difficult to get a fire going.
However, one of the guys who was staying with me taught me a very nice trick for starting fires - that is how to make a fire gel from household products.
He basically found a bottle of extra-strong washing up liquid that someone had left, and some vegetable oil, which he had with for cooking. He mixed the two together (not sure what quantities - maybe 50%/50%?) - and then dipped torn strips of cotton in this (although he said paper would work equally well. This worked as an excellent firelighter and burned foir long enough to provide a good heat to get he wood to start burning - and gave us all a warm night!
Now I thought this would be a handy tip to tell people about - the guy said that you needed pretty strong soap for it to work. I could take a vague guess at why this works, but I'm hoping there are enough people here of a chemical bent who can tell me how it works?
However, one of the guys who was staying with me taught me a very nice trick for starting fires - that is how to make a fire gel from household products.
He basically found a bottle of extra-strong washing up liquid that someone had left, and some vegetable oil, which he had with for cooking. He mixed the two together (not sure what quantities - maybe 50%/50%?) - and then dipped torn strips of cotton in this (although he said paper would work equally well. This worked as an excellent firelighter and burned foir long enough to provide a good heat to get he wood to start burning - and gave us all a warm night!
Now I thought this would be a handy tip to tell people about - the guy said that you needed pretty strong soap for it to work. I could take a vague guess at why this works, but I'm hoping there are enough people here of a chemical bent who can tell me how it works?